21 June,2011 06:26 AM IST | | Rinkita Gurav
In veiled threat to the BMC, which has been carrying out a hawker eradication drive, MP Sanjay Raut said the stalls would be protected in 'Shiv Sena style'
Shiv Sena's party leaders have been unable to stomach BMC's massive drive to eradicate hawkers from the city.
The encroachment department has, so far, shut down nearly 20 Shiv Vada Pav stalls in the city and identified over 100 illegal ones.
Sena executive Uddhav Thackeray launched Shiv Vada to provide employment to Marathi youths
Reacting to the stalls' forced closure, Sena MP Sanjay Raut visited the BMC headquarters yesterday and tried to convince officials 'not to damage Shiv Vada Pav stalls' during their demolition drives.
A BMC official, on condition of anonymity, said, "Raut accepted that stall owners should be penalised if the stalls are illegal, but said booths set up by the Shiv Sena should be exempt from this.
He said that if their stalls were targeted, they would protect them in 'Shiv Sena style'." BMC's Standing Committee Chairperson Rahul Shewale agreed with Raut.
"The BMC should carry out its work and take action against all illegal vada pav stalls but not target the ones run by the Shiv Sena."
Raut also demanded that the civic body implement the Shiv Vada Pav scheme to prevent illegal vada pav stalls from coming up in the city.
The scheme is part of the Sena's ambitious project to globalise the trademark Maharashtrian delicacy while providing employment to several Marathi youth.
The Sena had planned to set up 125 such stalls across Mumbai, for which they wanted space from the civic body.
The anti-hawker policy has, however, slowed down the scheme's implementation.
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